Knitting machine



May 26, 1942. w. E. RALSTQN 2,284,167

KNITTING MACHINE |l| Im limi" l Il hl w i INVENTOR. WHL TE@ E. @m45 70N May 26, 1942- w. E. RALsToN KNITTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 4, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 1N VENTOR, WHLrEe E. ,6v/.uren

ATTORNEY' M M M .MEE

May 26, 1942. w. E. RALsToN KNITTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 4, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. WHL TEE E. .Q /44s TON H N W A May 26, 1942. w. E. RALs'roN KNI'TTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 4, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheetl 4 www 8N wQL @mw ,Naw new EN mw Rw mw May 26, 1942. w. E. RALsToN KNITTING MACHINE 5 sheets-sheet 5 Filed Nov. 4, 1938 w .MEW

INVENTOR. W/7. /u TEE E. K55/670V MMM, Mu fm ATTORNEY.

. Patented May 26 1942 KNITTING MACHINE Walter E. Ralston, Delavan, Wis., assignor to The George .W. Borg Corporatlon,.-Chicago, Ill., a I

corporation of Delaware Application November 4, 1938, Serial No. 238,837

My invention relates to improvements in knitting machines. v

The object ofl my invention is to provide a knitting machine wherein at least one of the plates for the needles is split or divided into a number of separate` sections, and to provide control means for each of said sections -or for grouped banks of said sections so that individual sections or banks may-be moved to the right or left a greater distance than has heretofore been possible with the racking means thus far provided, in fact my object is to make it possible to rack from one side of the machine to the other.

Another object of my invention is to provide a control for a racking mechanism whereby special patterns maybe worked out.

A further object of my invention is to provide a special draw cam mechanism whereby to simplify and speed up draw cam control operation thus making it possible to change the draw cam setting in the normal progress of a knitting machine operation and without stopping the ma-y chine for the adjustment of the draw cam.

In the drawings:

Figure l is an end view of a knitting machine equipped with my improved racking means, split plate, andimproved draw cam mechanism.

Figure 2 is a plan view of a knitting machine embodying my invention.

Figure 3 is a view in plan and showing one entire set of plates underV the control of my improved racking means.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 but showing the needle plate divided into banks of sections which as to one bank the sections are xed, and as to the two other banks they are oppositely movable to and from the fixed bank.

Figure 5 is a front view from the operators position of my new draw cam adjusting device.

Figure 6 is a front or operators view of my split plate with the use of a special clip.

Figure 6A is a perspective of the clip used in the mechanism shown in Figure 6.

Figure '7 is a front or operators view of a portion of my split plate shown in Figure 4 but with the fixed and movable needle sections racked into juxtaposition.

Figure 8 is an expanded view of a rack bar and a needle guide as used in the construction shown in Figure 4.

Figure 9 is a section on line 9 9 of Figure 4.

Figure 10 is a section on line III--III of Figure 3.

Figure 11 is a section on line II-II of Figure 3.

Figuren is a section on line I2I2 of Figure Figure 13 is a diagrammatic view of agured fabric, the knitting of which-is madepossible byI portions of the knitting machine shown in Figure 4.

Figure 14 isa diagrammatic view of a knitted fabric, the pattern for which is made possible by the portions of the machine shown in Figure 6. f

Figure 15 is a diagrammatic view of a knitted fabric which may be made upon the knitting machine, the portions of which are shown in Figure 3.' 'n

Figure 16 is aview of the underside of the cam block shown in Figure 5.

Figure 17 is a section online I1--I1 of Figure 5. Y

Figure 18 is a plan -view of a swimming trunk knit on my split plate machine.

Figure 19 is a plan view of a brassire knitted on my split plate machine.

Like parts are designated by the same refer- Thedrawings show my invention embodied in a so-called hand knitting machine for the knitting of flat fabric and the product of such a knitting machine has heretofore been in the form of either a single weight simple flat web, or a double thickness flat web, or in the form of a single thickness web upon which the simplest forms of pattern have been made either by hand deckingf or by a laboriously operable cam control racking mechanism by means of which one entire needle plate, as for instance the front plate, has been laterally moved to the extent of not more than three or four needles. Obviously, my invention may be incorporated in other types of knitting machines whether hand or power operated as will be clearly seen from the following description.

In a hand knitting machine of the type shown in the drawings, a, frame I0 provided with legs II, or mounted upon a bench, is provided with two needle plates I2 and I3. The needle plate I2, as shown in my drawings, being the rear or front needle plate I3. It will be understood, of course, that the knitting operation is accomplished by the passage of yarn I4 through guide Il into the hooks of the needles carried and guided by the needle plates i2 and i3, the guide l5 beingreciprocated from end to end of the machine with cam blocks I8 and I1 which are carried and guided by cam block-rails Ieand Il in a manner well known in this art.

Heretofore the front plate I3 has been con structed as slfown in Figure 3 with needle guides 20 built into a solid plate extending clear across the machine from left to right, and, as indicated, above, this entire needle plate has heretofore been providedwith means for racking it laterally to the extent lof one to three or possibly four needles. Therefore, it was possible to make a fabric such as that shown in Figure 15 wherein the single thickness fabric 2I produced by the rear plate was given a pattern by the knitting `of certain needles in the front plate as shown at 22 `and these needles could be racked somewhat to the right and to' the-left to make a "zig-zag pattern at,23. To illustrate this I have indicated thatcertain pairs of needles 24 ,are potioned inthe needle guides ci the front plate I3, and the needlesin the other of a machine equipped with this control mechanism and the racking means thus far described may, through the control handle 3B and the calibrations shown on the sector 48, ascertain and determine that the banir` of needle guides secured to the respective racking bars 2l and 21 are moved one needle position at a time from the position shown in Figure 7 to the position shown in Figure 4 and back again, thus making a pattern as shown in Figure 13, since, as handle 35 is moved one notch on the sector 45, needle guides 29| and 292 'will move outwardly or inguides 2l either are absent or are retracted so as nottooperateactivelyintheknittingofthe pattern.'

Inkeeping with my invention involving a split plate, however, I provide mechanism as shown in Figure 4 wherein the usual front plate is broken down into a plurality of needle grooves moimtedupon rack bars 2l, 2l and 21, each receivableinaseparatechannelinarackbar lguide 2l. The rack bar guide is receivedin the frame Il of the knitting machine.

With this construction it is possible to mount separate needle guides Isin respective rack bars u' 28,28 or21 and' arrangetheminbanksas shown' mostclearlyinFigurei'whereitwiilbeseen that the needle guides 20| are secured to the iixedrackbar 25. Theneedle guides 22| arcse- `euredtothe rackbar 28 andtheguides 202 aresecuredtotherackbar21. Eachrackbarhasa corresponding sub-rack bar 2i', 2l' and 21'. The mechanism for the control of these rack bars will now be described. 1

A handle Il is connected directly with apin. ion II which is therefore under the direct control of an operator standing in front of the front plate I3. The pinion 3l is meshed with a reversing pinion 31 which in turn is meshed with arack I. attached directly to a sub-rack bar 21'.

The purposeof the reversing pinion 31 is to accomplish coordinating movement between the handle 3l and the sub-rack bar 21', thus making it perfectly natural for an operator to move -areinmeshwithatransferpinionll,theaxis of which is iixed upon the rack bar guide 2l. Bub-rack bar 2G' has its inner face provided with rackbarteethninmeshwiththetransfer pinion Il and it is thus apparent that when sub' wardly the distance of one needle spacing.

Various ways may be devised for securing the needle guides 29 to their respective rack bars but I have found that a needle guide may best be secured to a rack bar as shown in Figure 8 since space must be conserved to the utmost in 4I upon the underside of the guide., The boss` 4l is received in one of the, slots Il and a screw iixes the guide in place in one of thevslots since the screw isproiec'ted upwardly through the bar into the boss Il. the upperyfaoe of the guide 2l is provided with the usual lock bar Il (Figure 12) which retains the needle in the usual groove l2.Y

Obviously, the formation of various types of patterns requires the diiferent adjustment or range of adjustmento! the rackbars 26 or 21 and v of needles associated with each bar.

I therefore have not onLv Provided the structure heretofore described but I have also provided sub-rack blrsll', Il' and 21"'Ihich`underlie the respective rack bars 2l, 2i, and 21 to whichthe needle guides are secured. By pro.

vidingva'riousboresllintherackbarsand sub-rackbars, and by having the transfer pinion 's u engage only with the sub-mk bm. r am rack bar 21 is forced to the right, sub-rack bar 7g 2l' is forcedto the left by the transfer pinion Il.

Por easy control and for scheduled formation of patterns, I provide a calibrated ratchet sector ll and a spring pawlmechanism II to enabletopinaparticularrackbarandaparticular sub-rackbarbymeansofpinll. Ifoneofthe pins lisnotinpositiontoconnecttherack bar and its sub-rack bar,obviously the needle guides will remain stationary even though the handle Il is moved for the purpose of racking some other bank of needles. lTo illustrate the methodinwhichthisisusedlshowinl'igures 6 and 6A the coupling together of a group` ot needle guides 2l by means of a clip II which prevents the guides from separating and therefore forces rack bar 2i to move with rack bar 21. With the clip Il in place the pattern to be'made by the pairs of needles (one from each bank as shown in Figure 6) will be the pattern shown at el in'Fisure 14, and this pattern in zig-zag form is formed under the control of the handle 3l which is'racked in successive movements to the rightandthentotheleft. Whentheclipll isremoved andapin II isplaced through each of the rack bars and sub-rack bars 28 and 21, thepattemshown'atninrigure liwillbeproduced; then when the clip is placed in position again the pattern at Il is again produceiLetc.

Y To illustrate the manner in which the construction shown in Figure 4 operates, the diagrammatic view in Figure 13 shows the stitch at 2"', which. is stitched by the fixed needles in guides lsecuredtotheiixedrackbar; the stitch at 2M' is knitted by the needles in guides me therewith in the handle I5. The operator 7g 29| secured tothe upperrack bar 2l; and the The usual dove-tail slot Il in' stitch 292' is knitted-by the needles in guides 292 secured to the lower rack bar 21. When the various guides 200, 29|, and.292 are side by side as shown in Figure 7, the group of stitches shown at 53 is produced, and when the handle 35 is racked to the right, the stitches diverge as shown at 64 as the needles step 'by step are adjusted tothe position shown in Figure 4. 'I'hen l when the handle 35 is brought back toits original position step by step the stitches produced thereby are parallel again as shown at 63,

To make certain types of patterns and new I have thus made it possible to quickly change from the conventional solid needle plate to a sectional controlled needle plate by lifting the solid plate from the frame and replacing with a sectional plate mounted on the rack vbars for.

whatever pattern may be desired'. v

While the solid needle plate is mounted in a knitting position with the needle plate on the opposite side, it is possible to rack it from one end of the .machine to the opposite end. Heretofore racking movement to the lextent of three or four needles has been the limit in any given direction.

It is also possible to divide a solid needle plate into two parts by pinning one part to the lower rack bar and the other part to the upper rack bar the two sections may be moved in opposite l directions. Using this set-up in conjunction with the opposite needle plate a double knee racked fabric can be produced.

By mounting sections of a. split plate upon the rack bars in such a way that the sections move in opposite directions, a double knee racked fabl nel'.

ric may be made whereby the points created by racking will be made on both sides of the fabric. Or by holding one section with a pin 56' a straight side may be made and a point created on the opposite side of the fabric; also by changing the pins 56 so that both sections rack in the same direction a fabric commonly called a kneeracked fabric may be produced. Heretofore it has only been possible to produce a knee-racked fabric or straight fabric on a conventional machine With solid needle plates.

With my split plate or sectional needle plate machine, a combination of any of the fabrics, namely, the knee-racked, straight side kneeracked, or double knee-racked may be made at the Will of the operator or by mechanical controls. It can be seen that caps, brassires, blouses, sweaters, bathing trunks, trimming, pockets, cuffs can be made and formed by the luse of any of the three different knee racks either in combination, or singly.

When a single xed needle section is intermediately placed, I can provide a needle section at either side thereof and mount each of such sections on a rack bar under control of handle 35 thereby producing a symmetrical garment with cupper brassire sections, or other functional patterned garment portions at the other side of a straight central panel.

To illustrate one set-up on a split plate machine whereby a bathing trunk, as shown in Fig. 18, may be made, I use a 400 needle machine, onehalf, or 200 needles, being on the back plate and 200 needles on the front plate. By cutting the front needle plate in two pieces, or by building single sections in a bank of 200 needles, I would divide the needles, 87 needles in one section and 23 needles in the other. The section with 8'1 needles is mounted onto either the upper or lower rack bar. The section with 23 needles is mounted on the center or stationary rack bar. Having done this I position my yarn guides in such a way that one guide carries the yarn the full widthof the needle bed or feeds yarn into all needles in operation. 'I'he other yarn guide is positioned -to feed yarn into the needles the width of the reinforced waist-band 300 which would be knit by the needles on the stationary rack bar. From this point, and with a full cardigan, or half cardigan, vI produce a knee rack stitch as shown at 30|', racking my machine on the left side to pull my fabric away from thestationary needles. I continue this knitting to a point 302 where the reinforced supporter is knit in. At this point I change my yarn guides so that both guides travel the Afull width of the needles in operation,and I do not rack the movable rack bar until the supporter or crotch section 303 is completed. I then change back to the knee rack but mis-rack at this point causing my fabric to work back towards the stationary 4.needles thus producing the panel 305 which continues on until the fabric" is finished. During the knitting of the panel 305, the yarn guidev controlling the reinforcing yarn is positioned to complete the remainder of the waistband. c

Another illustration of the use of my improved split plate is shown in Figure 19 where the fullness necessary to make the cup of a brassire is built into the fabric in the following man- The strap to form th back of the belt of the brassire is shown at 400. Thisis made by going into a rib stitch brought up to the point The cupped eiect 402 is produced on my plate, which is split in the center into two solid sections of needles which are arranged on each side of the center line. I start out with the full or half cardigan stitch and with my locks or cam heads at the extreme right of the machine I rack the two sections away from each other to the extent of one needle. such double knee rack which loosens up an excess of material along the center line of the division between the two sections as indicated at 402. At the end of the 10 rounds the two needle sections are side by side and I then' lock them together and continue'-knee racking both sections of needles. in the same direction; I continue for 25 rounds, thus making the portion 503 of the brassire garment. At this point, I mis-rack for 25 rounds to reverse the inclination of the wales to a line 40d. From this point, when the head is at the extreme left of the machine, the needle sections are released and the sections are racked away from each other for 10 rounds during which the fabric portion v605 is knit.A The two sections are then locked together and racking is continued in the same direction to form the portion 406. The other half portion of the brassire is completed by repeating the foregoing operations.

It will be obvious to any one skilled in this art that the successive racking under the control of the handle 35 would be virtually impossible with any of the `types of yarn now used unless the drawing of each stitch by the draw cam in the cam blocks I1 is controlled andl adjusted as each type of work produced by the needles of the front I then go ten rounds of plate is changed. for instance the constant production of a rib stitch as shown in theupper or.

lower parts-'oi' Figure 15 would require a given adjustment oi' Ythe draw cam while the production of the zig-zag stitching shown at 23 in Figure f 15 would require a dierent settingof the draw cam. I have, therefore, provided a fingertip control for the adjustment oi.' the draw cam in a draw ,y 4

cam control device shown most yclearly in Figures 5 and 17.

` Each cam block is provided with two draw cams andll and each o! the draw cams is provided pin 14 and each 'oi' these'lcontrol levers is a lever of the iirst class extending from' a cam-like surface l5 which contacts thedraw cam post to a y latch lip 18, and one of the levers `(13) is provided with a ilngertip pad 11 comprising an extension of the lever. Upon a separate latch post 18 I provide a pair of latch pin holders 'Il and Il,

each of which is provided with alatch pin 1I" and ll', respectively. These latch pins extend through the latch pin holders Il `and Il with" which they are in threaded engagement,y lock nuts l being provided as shown. `Latch pin holder I I is provided with a spring Il tending to withdraw latch pin 1l' from engagement with the latch lip 16 of the lever 12 and a `clip I! secured to latch pin holderk Il overlies latch pin holder 1I to compel latch pin holder Il to move upwardly with latch pin holder 10 Abut to permitthe free downward movement of latch pin holder 1I without ailecting latch pin holder 3l.

` With the draw cam adjusting devices. described above, it will be seen that the postor each draw cammaybeadiusted along the slot in'whichit is mounted to move simply'by the iingertip control of the operator -for it is possible for the operator to move the draw cam upwardly for a tight draw merely by pressing downwardly upon` 10. which'in turn, as the work progresses, may be Y released by 'a second application of preure upon pad 11.

Obviously the adJustment of the various'positions of the draw cam maybe accomplished by setting the adjustment of the latch pins 1l' and.

Any basic adjustment oi' the levers l2 and tl. 13 may be accomplished by means of a set screw Il which positions the limit of "loosening" movement of the draw cam by determining the lowermost position of lever 1l.

moving thesub-rack bar.

In the operation of my improved hitting machine in the creation of a pattern involving repeated, changesin racking oi' stitches produced by the front plate o! the machine, the extreme usefulness ot my quickdraw Vcam adjustment will be apparent and it has beenv found in practical commercialoperation of my improved knitting machine that the operator soon becomes Y l as proncient in the ngertip control of my draw cam as would a `pianist keys oi' a piano.'

I claim: y 1. In a knitting machine of the type known as a ilat knitting machineincludingQtwoneedle plates provided with needles to work to and from a knitting zone therebetween, a yarn 4guide for feeding yarn to said needles, a plurality of needle sections, a rack bar movable with eachsection, a

subrack bar alternatively attachable or detachable to' eachy rack bar and a control device for 2. Inaknitungmaemneofznetypeknownas a 'iiat hitting machine including two needle plates provided withneedles to work to and from y a hitting lone therebetween, and ayarn guide for i'eedingyarn to said'needlcs. one of said needle plates being divided into a plurality of sections wherein certain of said sections are provided with connections for coordinate movement in opposite rigntsnd left direction, said connections includf ingarackbariorthesectienmovinginonel directionandaseparaterackbarforthesection vmoving in theother direction.

ting sone therebetween, and a yarn guide for 'feeding yarn to said needles, one of said needle plates being divided into a pluralityof sections, apluralityotrackbars,certainof said sections beingsecuredtosaidrackbars,agearrack for eachofsaidrackbars,andapinioninengage ment with two of said gear racks whereby in the movement of one of and itsneedle sectiontomovetheother ofsaidrack barsandits section oppositely.`

4'..Aknlttingmachineofthetypeknownasa nat hittingmachine having a frame and in cluding two plates provided with needles to work to and from a hitting sone therebetween, anda yarnguide'fori'eedingyarntosaidneedles,one ot said needle plates having a section otspaced individual needle guides secured in fixed relation to said frame, and having individual movable sections o! needleguidcs upon either sideof said nxedsectiomarackbarsecuredto eachoisaid movable sections and means interconnecting said rack bars whereby to move said movable sections i oppositely with reference to said iixed section. wsnm n. narsron.

in the. ngering oi th Y 

